1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement in the art of screening devices designed to block passing motorists' and pedestrians' views of accidents, stalled cars or other roadway incidents.
2. Related Art
Accidents, stalled cars, and other roadway incidents often lead to traffic jams and additional accidents caused by curious drivers who slow down to look at the scene. Such traffic jams and accidents often continue to occur after emergency vehicles reach the scene, as the flashing lights and commotion associated with the clean-up and investigation distract other drivers. Slowdowns greatly hamper the ability of highways to facilitate large volumes of traffic and can be destructive to the environment, as harmful pollutants continue to be expended into the air while the vehicles creep along in traffic.
The problems created by onlookers are not limited to just those vehicles in the lanes adjacent to the accident scene, but may also extend to vehicles in the lanes of traffic moving in the opposite direction, due to "rubbernecking" by passing motorists. Additionally, where the incident is near pedestrian traffic, curious passersby may stop to observe and unwittingly get in the way of the emergency crews and hinder the rescue and clean-up efforts.
Therefore, there is a need for an accident shield device which will shield passing motorists' and pedestrians' vision from accidents, stalled cars or other highway incidents, thereby maintaining the flow of traffic near the incident. Such a shield should be reusable, of a temporary nature and readily available for deployment at the accident scene.
A number of devices specifically designed to restrict passing motorists' views of accident scenes are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,269,623 to Hanson discloses a traffic screen which includes an elongated screen deployable into an operative position by inflation of tubular or conduit support members. However, as the base, stanchions and leg members of this device must be inflated and then a plurality of sight barriers must be set up, one between each set of stanchions, it takes a substantial amount of time to prepare this traffic screen for use. Additionally, the means of holding the screen in place, such as the use of a magnetic plate connected to the shield or the use of a weighted material such as sand carried in the base, are either of questionable reliability or pose obvious logistical problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,912 to Byrd, Jr. discloses an accident screen which consists simply of an elongated fabric screen and plastic support posts which support the screen through the use of numerous mounting cables. However, as each of the mounting cables must be attached to nearby stationary objects, additional set-up time is required to find a sufficient stationary object and attach the mounting cables to it.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,196 to Hipskind discloses a portable device for screening off an accident scene from view utilizing an elongate sheet of thin flexible material wound up like a curtain on a rod within a portable cylindrical container, where the sheet is unwound when deployed. This invention is cumbersome to set up, however, as numerous poles must be threaded through the sheet at various locations to provide support to the screening device and a number of portable cylindrical containers must then be stacked on top of each other to provide for a screen tall enough to effectively block off an accident scene.